[NSRCA-discussion] Small Models...goodfor thefutureofthePatternEvent?

[Mike Hester]

That is because people are looking fo a magic fix that I am utterly, 
totally, absolutely convinced does not exist.

I am also absolutely utterly convinced that messing with the rules too much 
over airframes in ANY class right now will ultimately have the opposite 
effect of what people are trying to accomplish.

You guys know as well as I do that a major part of the draw in pattern is 
the planes themselves to a lot of people. Not all, but a substantial number. 
In the sportsman class, if a guy has the ambition to secure a 2 meter plane, 
history shows (around here anyway) that you're MUCH more likely to see him 
next year in intermediate. The guy with the Kaos.....more likely, not. It's 
not because of cost, that is an excuse. Remove that excuse, they'll just 
find another. And now you've screwed the guy who WOULD have been around next 
year....

So let me get this straight....if you want to fly a 2 meter plane with a OS 
or YS160, you would have to fly advanced? Jeez, that's not a good idea.

When I started, my first contest, I knew I was going to do it. I scratch 
built a 2 meter plane and went for it. I wasn't the only one, most others in 
sportsman also had 2 meter planes. One actually had bought a world team 
member's plane and was flying it....pretty well I might add...and I have to 
say that even through masters and many years, that season was some of the 
best competition I have ever had. And we're still here. It produced myself, 
AC Glenn, Bryan Kennedy, Steve Homenda to name a few. Steve was the only one 
who wasn't flying a 2 meter plane, he was flying a 40 sized Arresti and 
whipping everyone's tail with it. Oddly enough, he didn't get deterred by 
the big bad evil 2 meters.

There is no magic change to the rules that's going to bring newcomers in 
droves. You get creative, do what you can, and you make the best of what you 
get. We're not driving people away in droves like some people seem to think. 
If we are, it certainly isn't the rules regarding the size of the planes and 
cost. Maybe, just maybe it has more to do with a lot of the negativity?

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong....but I'm pretty sure I'm not =)

-M